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Friday, June 25, 2010

A few years back, hubby and I were looking for a new laptop computer. What I wanted was a basic version, albeit the latest but without too much bells and whistles that I do not need. This would have cost us less than forty thousand pesos. My husband, however, wanted the bells the whistles. He argued that while we had to shell out much more (it cost us nearly seventy thousand pesos), we would be getting a better value product. And since we'll be paying for it on installment basis, we would not really feel the difference of a thousand pesos or so per month.

He was right -- to a certain extent. I was also right. He eventually got his way and I grudgingly agreed to his choice. Four years later, we still haven't used a lot of the bells and whistles. And our hard drive had already broken down.

Now, his philosophy is very much nearer to mine than it was 4 years ago.

I guess he wouldn't insist yet on an HDTV since our old model is still working fine and although he watches TV more than I do, we do not really get to watch all that often nowadays.

I'm glad. There are things we don't really mind splurging on -- our children's education is one thing, health is another -- but we do have to balance everything since our income is limited and we have to think of what our children need too, and not just what we want.

They do say that one of the biggest causes of argument between couple is money. I'm glad we don't have a lot of arguments on how we should spend it.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

I just passed the 40 year old mark. The hubby and I are thinking that the decision to have or not to have baby number three is something that we have to make very soon. Unlike couples in their twenties or even in their thirties who can afford to wait, we can't. If we decide not to have another baby, it's not a decision that's considered final. Five or ten years down the line, we can't just say, hey, we want another baby and just decide to try. It's definitely now or never.

There are certainly pros and cons to having another kid. Children are such joy. We'd love to have more of them, but we do not know if we can afford to raise another one in the manner that we want to. We'd love to them to have a great education (which comes at a hefty price tag over here) and family vacations (we haven't done any out of the country trips since our honeymoon, much less a Branson vacation), and of course, we'd want them to have as few health issues as possible. We'd also like them to have both parents around for the time that they still need us.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

With the cost cutting measures implemented by a lot of companies, we are now mostly given simple promotional tote bags in light material, instead of the heavier materials of yesteryears. It's not a bad thing, actually. These make great "extra bags".

We like bringing around 1 or 2 of these for those just-in-case moments when we need more bags to carry stuff. After all, we do just have 2 hands. These can be folded flat and placed in my handbag or my kids' bags for those times when we just have to bring home more stuff.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Our condo unit is almost ready for turnover. We are thinking of spending a bit so that we can have it rented out as a ready-to-move-in furnished unit. So far the unit is already fitted with lights, a standard kitchen setup (not Moen kitchen faucets though, unless we decide to spend a bit to upgrade it), toilet tiles and basic bathroom and shower fixtures, and vinyl tiles. It has been painted too.

We are planning add a bed, cabinets, living and dining room setup and some appliances like an a/c, TV, refrigerator and maybe a microwave oven. Let's see what we can fit in. After all, it's not that big -- only around 20 square meters.

I think our first tenant will be lucky as he/she will be getting everything brand new -- the unit, the appliances and the furnitures!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

When I was planning my wedding a few years ago, I was very clueless. I didn't know that we had to give our bridesmaids and groomsmen gifts. (Later I found that it was not really a requirement but a show of appreciation).

I like what Chinese tradition dictated though. Instead of giving gifts, we gave ang paos to each member of the junior wedding party. It was so much more practical, in my opinion. Saves me the trouble, too, of looking for the perfect gift that everybody would appreciate and would keep with the theme.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

I know this this is no longer new advise for losing weight, but some people still do not follow it.

Instead of simply going for a quick weight loss diet only, we should be modifying our lifestyle so that we don't eat as much and have more physical activity. This would make us maintain our ideal weight for a much longer period of time, preferably for our lifetime already.

The problem is that we eat so much processed foods with a lot of sugar and fat and then we plop down in front of the television. Too much calorie intake + not enough physical activity = weight gain.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

This is the age of the world wide web and never has sharing of information been as easy as now. You can practically find all sorts of information, from biographies, to medical information, to diet pill reviews, to ways to earn money...all online.

Information is all out there with the click of the mouse. It's so easy and so simple. But do remember that sometimes it's so easy to get swayed with wrong information too, since it's just as simple to spread misinformation. We still need a discerning mind to be able to sift through the multitude of information to get the gems and to get rid of the garbage, so to speak.

So, don't believe everything you see on one website. It's best if you could do your research on other websites for corroboration and confirmation of a certain information.